Chester, California

On Saturday, Nov. 9, the town of Chester, California held their holiday tree lighting ceremony. The celebration kicked off the holidays and honored the men and women of the armed forces. The tree lighting ceremony, which took place during Veterans Day weekend, honored servicemen and women by initiating a season of peace, hope, and goodwill towards others. The event featured the color guard, a community sing-a-long of Let There Be Peace on Earth and the opportunity for families to hang ornaments on the tree. This celebration means a lot to this town and we are so happy that we had the opportunity to provide the lights and tree topper for their tree.

Here is the town’s official mission statement for the celebration: Peace and goodwill in our world starts within each individual, each family and each community.  We wish for our community to express a collective desire for peace and goodwill among ourselves, to create symbolic, yet powerful expression of that which we long for in our world.  Lighting this tree together, at the beginning of our holiday season and on the weekend that our nation celebrates the service and sacrifice of our brothers and sisters for our national safety and security, we put forth our intention for peace.  We honor their service by initiating, with this tree lighting, a season of peace, hope, service and goodwill toward each other, those in our families, our neighborhoods and our community. The lights of this tree shall remind us of the commitment we make this day in memory of those who have served us and of our intention to live beside each other in peace and harmony.  In this, we become a model for others.

After the celebration, we received the following message from Chester: "We did it!  With your help, we had a beautiful community tree lighting ceremony in honor of our veterans.  Thank you!"

Destiny USA

In 2012, we created a holiday décor package for Destiny USA, the 2,450,000 sq. ft. six-story super-regional shopping and entertainment complex in Syracuse, New York. The mall is the 6th largest in the entire United States.

They wanted to keep the decorations up past Christmas and through the winter season, so our designers came up with a snowflake theme that could be displayed from November to February. The design features large hanging snowflakes, white pole wraps, and beautiful blue banners and light curtains throughout the shopping center.

We also created an area where people can visit Santa during the holidays. This area features a large red carpet, box decorations, trees with lights and ornaments, and artificial snow.

To check out more photos of the snowflake theme and the “Santa Reception Area” at Destiny USA, click on the read more button.

U.S. Air Force 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron

On this Veterans Day 2013, we would like to say thank you to all of the men and women who have served our country.

In 2011, we were lucky enough to provide a group of servicemen and women with some comfort during the holidays when we donated a giant 6 ft. lit wreath and other decorations to the United States Air Force 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron stationed in Afghanistan.

We are proud that we were part of this project and look forward to being part of many more like this in the future. You can read the entire press release from the Air Force by clicking the read more button.

Seneca Falls, New York

In 2008, we partnered with the town of Seneca Falls, New York to produce new lights for their downtown. The Seneca Falls Fire Department deemed the city’s old lights unsafe and said they were not allowed to be lit. We switched out their old incandescent lights with brand new long lasting, energy saving LED bulbs just in time for their huge annual holiday celebration, the It’s a Wonderful Life Festival.

For the past 66 years, Seneca Falls has held the festival to celebrate the movie that put their town on the map. As the story goes, legendary director Frank Capra visited Seneca Falls in 1945 to get inspiration for the fictional town of Bedford Falls, where the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, takes place. The three day festival features a parade, a screening of the movie, meet and greets with actors from the film, and much more. We are excited to attend this year’s festivities and hopefully we will see some of you there. Click on the read more button to see some pictures of the downtown and the 2008 festival.

It's a Wonderful Life

Syracuse University

In 2009, we began working with Syracuse University on a number of banner projects. The private research university is located in Syracuse, New York and is known for its dominant athletic program and top-of-the-line communications school. Over the past few years, we have printed multiple banner designs that have been installed throughout the campus. Some of the themes for the banners include:

• Orange Central – Banners printed for homecomings and reunions.
• Entrepreneurship – These read “Make Your Ideas Real” and feature faces of students representing different majors.
• Shaw Quadrangle – Hung in the quad named after Chancellor Emeritus Kenneth A. “Buzz” Shaw. The quad was dedicated in 2010.
• Scholarship in Action/Education for the World in the World – These are the main designs that are placed throughout the university.
• Welcome – Banners welcoming students and families to the campus.

To see some more photos of the banners, click the read more button.

The Bulletin: Nov. 1

Source: Life

• Forget Halloween And Thanksgiving. These Photos Prove Christmas Is Already Here (Huffington Post)
• Downtown Crossing: An Old District Tries To Become A New Neighborhood (WBUR)
• America's Favorite Towns (Travel + Leisure)
• Young artists make decorations for state's Christmas tree in D.C. (DNJ)
• Book Christmas travel soon for deals, Travelocity warns (USA Today)

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See's Candies

In 2007, Downtown Decorations did a series of seasonal decorations for See’s Candies. The well-known candy manufacturer and distributor has operated for over 90 years and now has more than 200 stores around the world. If you haven’t tried their chocolates, we highly recommend them!

The decorations we designed for See’s are put up every year at their headquarters in South San Francisco (pictured above) and their second factory in Los Angeles.  For Halloween, we provide our ghost, pumpkin and bat decorations. We also produce Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas décor for both locations.

Stamford, Connecticut

Since 2007, Downtown Decorations has produced holiday decor for downtown Stamford, Connecticut. Over the years, we have created custom wreaths, sprays, bows and other types of decor. In 2009, we designed custom pole decorations for over 100 light poles throughout the city. The decor was designed to connect to the city's existing light poles without needing any special attachment hardware. They were made with our deluxe pine garland, lit with LED 5 mm wide angle warm white mini lights and ornamented with our UV ornaments. To check out some more photos of our decor in downtown Stamford, click the read more button.

The Avenue at White Marsh (2012)

In the fall of 2012, The Avenue at White Marsh in Baltimore, Maryland approached us to revamp some of their décor. They had an existing décor program that they wanted to breathe some new life into as well as change the look and feel without having to put a new program together. In addition, they wanted to add some visibility to their entrance sign on Honeygo Blvd. Working off pictures from the prior year’s décor and some measurement’s provided by management staff, the DDI design team worked hand in hand with the White Marsh marketing team to create a unique and upscale color scheme for their existing 30’ tree and 15’ wreath. We also added several 6’ and 8’ wreaths throughout the property as well as brand new banners. For the entrance signs, we created custom glitter mesh sign toppers with LED rope lighting for amazing daytime and nighttime pop. Stay tuned for even more additions to the property in 2013. For more pictures of what we did in 2012, click the read more button.

Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital

Recently, we began producing a holiday décor program for the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse, New York. The newly built hospital is named after billionaire businessman Tom Golisano, founder of the second-largest payroll processing company in the United States, Paychex.

In 2010, we provided holiday décor for the inside of the building. In 2011, we started decorating both the interior and exterior of the building. The inside features some of our large wreaths and a giant tree. Our ornaments and snowflakes can also be spotted hanging in the front windows of the building.

On the outside, we enhance the main “tree house” entrance of the building by adding our garland to the walkway pillars, making them look even more like real trees. Another unique concept we came up with was decorating the outside and inside horse statues with bows and custom garland collars. To see more pictures, click the read more button.

SUNY Upstate Medical University

Every year for over 10 years, we have installed a holiday décor program for SUNY Upstate Medical University. The Syracuse based medical center, which includes a teaching hospital, is one of the largest in the entire state of New York.

The project features many unique pieces, including a giant wreath mounted on the outside of the main building. The wreath hangs approximately 60 feet in the air, which makes it visible to all traffic passing by on I-81.

The rear of the building, where the entrance to the teaching hospital is located, is also decorated with a large wreath. We incorporate the old period poles on the gateway to the entrance into our design by adorning them with wreaths and pole wraps.

The inside of the teaching hospital features a giant lighted tree in front of the main stairway. We also enhance the railing behind the tree by adding our pine garland. There are many other items featured in the holiday décor program, including a large 30 ft. by 10 ft. wall banner and decorated sprays.

To see more pictures from our install, click the read more button.

LIGHT UP Rosslyn

In 2009, Downtown Decorations worked with the Rosslyn Business Improvement District to switch its LIGHT UP Rosslyn program over to LED lighting. The program lights up the rooflines of most of the major buildings in Rosslyn, VA from early December to mid-January. Working with both the BID and the building owners, we installed over 20,000 LED bulbs and four miles of lightline. For more on the annual ceremony, click here. To see more photos, click on the read more button.

Men of a Certain Age

In 2010, Downtown Decorations was contacted by the set decorators for Ray Romano’s television series Men of a Certain Age. Being Everybody Loves Raymond fans, everyone here at the office was extremely excited to be part of the project.

The set decorators called us because they needed help with a scene for an upcoming episode that was taking place around Christmas. We advised them on what would look good in the scene and provided them with some giant bows and garland to help give it the perfect holiday look.

Downtown Decorations named 2013 CenterState CEO Economic Champion

We are excited to announce that we have been named a 2013 CenterState CEO Economic Champion. This is the second year in a row that we received the award from the CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, a twelve-county business leadership and economic development organization based in Syracuse, New York.

According to CenterState CEO, Economic Champions are selected for hiring new employees; expanding or relocating due to growth; making capital expenditures; receiving special local, statewide or national awards; or celebrating a milestone or anniversary in the past year.

Later this month, we will be gathering with the other Economic Champions to celebrate during a special luncheon, which will feature keynote remarks from ESPN Executive Chairman George Bodenheimer.

Below, you can check out a commercial for CenterState CEO that our vice president, Garrett Peterson, was featured in last year.

The Bulletin: Oct. 4

Source: Life

• ICSC Forecasts Holiday Sales to Increase by 3.4% (ICSC) (Pictured)
• Cities Push On Despite Shutdown, for Now (Next City)
• "Lights, Camera, Christmas!" begins production for ABC (TV by the Numbers)
• Can a Shutdown Ruin Christmas? Watch for Trouble at the Ports (The Wall Street Journal)
• America's Best Small Towns (Huffington Post)

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Downtown Decorations' new facility

In October of 2012, Downtown Decorations bought a new building. As a growing company, we needed more space, and fast. So, we left our old rental on Deere Road for a new building twice the size. We began construction on our new Joy Road facility in January of 2013 and everything was finished up and move-in ready by April. Our senior designer, Abby Hagerty, came up with the design for the office. According to Abby, she focused on the following:

-Designing a floor plan to reflect the collaborative personality of Downtown Decorations

-Creating departments within the floor plan arrangement to increase productivity and efficiency

-Creating break out spaces where informal and impromptu meetings and collaborations can occur

-Having modern and clean finishes and fixtures with splashes of our brand colors (red, white, black)

-The ability to expand into the production area to accommodate the growing business

To see some before and after pictures of our new building, click on the read more button below. You can also check out an article that the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation wrote about our new building by clicking here.

Dallas, Texas

You know the old saying, everything’s bigger in Texas. We definitely kept it in mind when designing this project in downtown Dallas. Back in 2010, we partnered with Magic Moments Parties and Events to create this holiday spectacular for the new Winspear Opera House. We provided a 30’ tree as a centerpiece and over 6 miles of lights for the existing trees throughout the property. To check out some more photos of the project, click on the read more button.

Cazenovia, New York

In 2011 and 2012, we produced new unlit wreaths and garland for the Village of Cazenovia through the Cazenovia Garden Club. The small village of 2,835 people lies on the southeast shore of the beautiful Cazenovia Lake in Central New York. When we began to design the decor, we decided that it should match the sophisticated feel of the village. We came up with a simple yet elegant look that includes pine cones and red bows. To see more pictures, click on the read more button.

Desperate Housewives

In 2006, Downtown Decorations was contacted by Emmy Award-winning set director Erica Rogalla. Erica was working on Desperate Housewives at the time and needed our help designing a holiday scene for the show’s first Christmas episode, The Miracle Song. We gave Erica a crash course on holiday decor and created some wreath pole designs. To show her appreciation for our special consultant work, Erica sent us this card signed by the show’s leading ladies.

Photos from the episode:

Augusta, Georgia

 

In 2007, we were approached by the Augusta Downtown Development Authority to design a multi-year holiday décor program for the entire city of Augusta, Georgia. Best known for hosting The Masters golf tournament each year, August is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area in the state of Georgia. When we were first contacted, the downtown area was in the process of a revitalization. They wanted to bring a fresh look to the city to get more visitors during the holidays.

We went down to Georgia to visit the site and worked with multiple city departments on the project. We first surveyed the downtown area and then presented a cohesive plan to get the most holiday impact within budget. The program consisted of:

• Custom post over wreaths in key parks throughout the downtown
• A custom made glitter mesh arch over the statue of James Brown on Broad Street
• A custom made animated fountain of light built to sit in an existing fountain
• Decorating a real giant tree in the downtown area with our lights and tree topper
• Over 300 wreath and pole wraps on key streets throughout the downtown and city areas
• Large pole wraps on main intersections throughout the city

After the décor was set up throughout the city, officials held a holiday celebration downtown that included a tree lighting, fireworks, Christmas parade, ice skating and an elf school for children. To check out some pictures of our décor and the holiday celebration, click the read more button below.

Before and After

Before and After

Before and After 

Notes from the VP: Top 5 Cape Cod beaches

As I stated in my last post, I’m a chaser of the endless summer and would ideally like to see winter on my own terms. I spend a lot of my summer on Cape Cod (don’t worry – I’m working remote), so as fall approaches, I thought I would lay out my top 5 favorite Cape Cod beaches.

 

Race Point (Source: The Weekender)

1. Race Point (South) - At the very tip of the cape lies Race Point Beach - my favorite National Seashore Beach and my favorite beach overall. I have my off road vehicle permit, so most weekends the Jeep Army heads to Race Point. With the ORV permit, we drive out onto the beach and away from the crowds of people on the cape. Beautiful and desolate, this beach lends itself to wide open spaces for frisbee, baseball, and just about any other beach activity. Few rocks and calm yet great surf.

Crowe's Pasture (Source: Sarah Fit)

2. Crowe’s Pasture - The second on the list is also an ORV beach. This Dennis town beach on the bay side features an amazing sand bar at low tide that stays out for about 3-4 hours. When the timing is right on a beautiful day, you can’t beat being able to drive right through the ocean, on to a sand bar and set up for the day. Grills, games, cold beers and warm water.

 

Cahoon Hollow (Source: Photo.net)

3. Cahoon Hollow -  What doesn’t this beach have? Amazing waves, beautiful views, a young party atmosphere and the world's greatest beach bar – The Beachcomber. Make sure your in line by 9:30 a.m. or the parking lot fills up. When you’re tired of the beach, trek up the hill and grab a Goombay Smash and fish tacos at the world’s friendliest bar.
 

Coast Guard Beach (Source: Fine Art America)

4. Coast Guard Beach - Don’t be put off by the tram to the beach. Once your past the tram issue, this is one of the top beaches in the world. Great surf, soft sand, and a lazy river to float down at the right time. The water is shockingly warm for an ocean beach and a quick hop back to my house.

 

White Crest (Source: Fine Art America)

5. White Crest - Located about a mile from Cahoon Hollow, this is the spot to hit when Cahoon is full. Don’t let the huge hill deter you, this is an amazing beach and usually a jumping off point to head to The Beachcomber. Usually a bit quieter than Cahoon, this still features the great surf and amazing sand dunes.

 

Garrett Peterson
Vice President
Downtown Decorations, Inc.

 

The Bulletin: Sept. 12

Source: Life

 

• The Christmas season has started, whether you like it or not (Washington Post) (Pictured)
• America's Prettiest Towns (Forbes)
• 12 years after terror attack, tourism, retail surge across Lower Manhattan (Commercial Observer)
• Shopping mall wars escalating in Dubai (World Property Channel)
• September Downtown of the Month: Cape Town, South Africa (IDA)

 

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Cherry Hill, New Jersey

In 2010, Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, New Jersey contacted us to help with the décor for their new center. The enormous complex located minutes away from Philadelphia includes the Market Place, which features over 530,000 sq. ft. of regional shopping, and the Towne Place, which has an additional 205,000 sq. ft. of upscale retail, restaurants and offices. They had recently finished the lifestyle portion of the plaza and wanted some décor to really enhance their first holiday season. One of the major challenges of the project was the custom giant tree. They wanted the tree to sit around their existing fountain, which was 16’ in outer diameter, but they only had a limited budget, so the largest tree that would work was 34'. We took the specs of their fountain and created a custom base for the tree to allow it to seamlessly fit around the fountain with a 3” tolerance. In addition to the giant tree, we decorated each light pole in the shopping center with garland pole wrap and bows, adorned pylon signs, and hung 6’ and 8’ wreaths on buildings throughout the plaza. Take a look at some photos of the tree installation and the finished decorations after the jump.

University Banners

 

Downtown Decorations has worked on banner projects with over 30 universities and colleges across the country. We have collaborated with Cornell, Texas State, Syracuse, UC San Diego, Virginia, Texas Tech and many others. Banners like these can help promote, brand and define a school and its campus. Our design team will work with a school to create unique and custom banners like the University of Alaska Fairbanks one pictured below. We recently worked with UAF to create these remarkable banners while staying within the school's overall branding guidelines. Check out some more photos of our collegiate banners and see what Texas State and Syracuse had to say about working with us after the jump.

 

 

Vero Beach, Florida

 

Vero Beach Outlets approached us in 2012 to assist them with their holiday décor. They had recently gone through a redevelopment of the property and wanted their holiday décor to reflect the transition. We met with their full management team on site and walked the property to get a sense of the center and their thoughts on décor. They wanted a traditional feel to their décor but with a theme that reflected their architecture and clientele. They also wanted large showpiece items that could be viewed from I-95. We created a large 18’ wide glitter mesh bow to sit atop their 60’ Pylon sign as well as a 95’ tree of lights with a 10’ topper custom built from their existing flagpole. We also designed and fabricated a number of glitter packages around the base of the “tree”.  In addition to the showpiece items, they wanted the holiday feel spread throughout the center. We put custom 8’ commercial Christmas wreaths and commercial garland across their entrance bridge, corresponding wreaths and garland around the “towers” in center, and 6’ wreaths in their drive lane. We also placed architectural lightline around each area. Check out some pictures of the install as well as the finished product after the jump.